ON EDUCATIONAL TRAINING FOR OVERSEAS LIFE. 333 



Educational Training for Overseas Life. — Report of Committee 

 appointed to consider the Educational Training of Boys and Girls in 

 Secondary Schools for Overseas Life (Rev. Dr. H. B. Gray, Chairman ; 

 Mr. C. E. Browne, Secretary ; Major A. G. Church, Mr. T. S. 

 Dymond, Dr. Vargas Eyre, Mr. G. H. Garrad, Sir Richard 

 Gregory, Mr. 0. H. Latter, Miss McLean, Miss Rita Oldham, 

 Mr. G. W. Olive, Sir John Russell, Mr. A. A. Somerville, 

 Mrs. Gordon Wilson). 



In 1923-4 the Committee reviewed the provision made in secondary schools of 

 England and Wales for developing a boy's natural bias to^Fa^ds life on the land, and 

 for giving girls some practical training in those modern operations which are associated 

 with farm life ; they further dealt with the present state of public opinion on the 

 subject from the point of view of the parent, the headmaster, the local educational 

 authorit}', overseas settlement societies and educational authorities in the Dominions 

 themselves. 



In 1924-5 the Committee considered in more detail the work that is being 

 attempted in certain schools of this country to arouse interest in farm life, and in 

 agricultural studies generally. In their report issued last year at Southampton they 

 were able to give, through the courtesy of headmasters, the syllabus of work adopted 

 and the time-tables of the classes in these schools. The Committee further attempted 

 to define the aim, content, and place of agricultural studies in the school curriculum. 

 They emphasised the point that by 'agricultural studies' is not meant 'teaching to 

 farm,' but that the farm or garden is to be used as a laboratory and workshop in the 

 study of physics, chemistry, and biology. They put on record the expressed opinion 

 of educationists in the Overseas Dominions that theie agricultural studies should be 

 regarded not as a vocational training, but as affording a practical outlook and purpose 

 in the intellectual work of the schools. 



The report further explored the many practical difficulties of finance, staffing, and 

 examinations that stand in the way of a general adoption of such studies in schools 

 where plenty of land is available. 



In examining the position of urban schools it is suggested that, in the absence of 

 available land for experimental purposes, geography has strong claims to be con- 

 sidered as a useful substitute, as affording a valuable means of opening the minds of 

 boys and girls alike to the possibilities of a career abroad within the Empire. 



The earlier inquiries of the Committee showed that there are a large number of 

 schools eagerly awaiting the production of a practical scheme whereby the curriculum 

 of the school can be broadened and rendered more adaptable to the demands of the 

 Empire without sacrificing any of its educational breadth and efficiency. The chief 

 obstacle to the production of such a scheme lies in the laissez faire of the people for 

 whom such education might be offered. Many parents would welcome a development 

 of school activities in the direction of more practical work in workshop, on the land, 

 or in the laboratories, but their wishes are inarticulate, and so long as there is no 

 general expressed desire for these practical studies, so long will the educational 

 authorities ignore the need. Public indifference to such need not only holds up 

 progress, but indirectly prevents experiments by those who would like to attempt 

 them. 



Examining bodies generally do not sufficiently grasp the handicap which practical 

 work places on the candidates for the First School Certificate, as compared with the 

 simpler order of studies provided for other pupils which only require book and paper. 



The Committee therefore consider that, before an attempt is made to produce 

 model courses and expend much time on detail, it would be better if the general 

 principles underlying the movement for a more practical type of education were brought 

 before the public, with the hope that a demand for it would bo created. This, they 

 believe, would be the first step towards its general adoption. They have therefore 

 organised the meeting at Oxford on Thursday, August 5, for the purpose of drawing 

 public attention to the urgent need for an extension of practical work in all secondary 

 as well as the elementary schools, both in the interests of the Empire as well as 

 for the sake of the boys and girls of the Homeland. The Committee wish through 

 this meeting to emphasise the most important results of their investigation, viz., 

 first, that a growing and widespread demand exists in the Overseas Dominions for boys 



